Mexico's Grupo R Orders Additional Jackups from Keppel FELS for $820M

Keppel FELS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has secured contracts from Mexican drilling company, Grupo R, to build four jackups worth $820 million.

The jackups will be built to Keppel's proprietary KFELS B Class design and are scheduled for delivery progressively from 2Q 2015 to 4Q 2015.

When completed, Keppel FELS will have built ten KFELS B Class jackups for Mexican customers since 2012, including two for PEMEX.

Wong Kok Seng, managing director (Offshore) of Keppel O&M and managing director of Keppel FELS, said, "Mexico is an important market for us and we are glad that Mexican operators have chosen the KFELS B Class as their preferred rig design and Keppel as the preferred shipyard. We look forward to support Grupo R as they expand their fleet of premium jackup rigs for the Mexican market, with safe, on time and on budget deliveries."

Customized to Grupo R's requirements, the rigs will be able to operate in water depths of up to 400 feet and drill to depths of 30,000 feet.

PEMEX, the Mexican national oil company has announced investment plans of $25.3 billion for 2013, of which $20 billion will be targeted at upstream activities. On a visit to Keppel FELS on 30 January 2013, Mr Emilio Lozoya Austin, CEO of PEMEX, said that the company is embarking on its most ambitious drilling program in decades and plans to add between eight and 12 offshore platforms to its fleet.

Ramiro Garza V., CEO of Grupo R said, "PEMEX have indicated their aim to operate the biggest fleet of jackup rigs in the world and Grupo R is well positioned to support them with four premium jackup rigs. We chose the KFELS B Class jackup design for our first shallow water rigs because of their high specifications and their proven success for PEMEX. In choosing Keppel FELS, we are also partnering a shipyard which is able to meet the needs of our customers in terms of cost-effectiveness, time, technology, quality, and safety with environmental considerations. This will further enhance our capabilities as the leader in Mexico's onshore and offshore drilling industry."

Developed by Keppel's technology arm, Offshore Technology Development, the KFELS B Class rigs incorporate Keppel's advanced and fully-automated high capacity rack and pinion jacking system, and Self-Positioning Fixation System. It provides maximum uptime with reduced emissions and discharges. For its environmental-friendly features, the KFELS B Class design was bestowed the prestigious Engineering Achievement Award from the Institution of Engineers Singapore in 2009.

The above contracts are not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of Keppel Corporation Limited for the current financial year.

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Seadrill Orders Additional Jackups from Dalian

Seadrill has exercised fixed price options for the construction of two high specification jackup drilling rigs at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore Co., Ltd. (DSIC Offshore) in China. The rigs are scheduled for delivery during the third and fourth quarter of 2015, and the estimated total project price is approximately $230 million (including project management, capitalized interest, drilling and handling tools, spares and operation preparations) per rig, with tail-heavy payment terms.

The two new units will be based on the F&G JU2000E design, with water depth capacity of 400 feet and drilling depth of 30,000 feet. Seadrill has now in total six jackups under construction at DSIC Offshore of which two are scheduled for delivery in 2013 and four in 2015.

Chief Executive Officer of Seadrill Management Ltd. Fredrik Halvorsen said in a comment, "The two jackup newbuilds are ordered in-line with our customers preference for high specification jackup drilling rigs and a strengthening jackup drilling market. We continue to see solid demand for this asset class with both dayrates and contract duration increasing. These two new orders will increase Seadrill's jackup fleet to 28 units and strengthen our position as the largest operator of modern high specification drilling units."

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Keppel FELS Delivers Two Jackups Ahead of Schedule

Keppel FELS, a subsidiary of Keppel O&M, revealed Monday that it has delivered two jackup rigs ahead of schedule, bagging it a combined bonus of $810,000 (SDG1.5 million).

Transocean Siam Driller was delivered 22 days ahead of schedule, while the second unit – AOD 1 – was delivered 29 days ahead of schedule. Both of the rigs were handed over to their respective owners at the end of January, a spokesperson with Keppel FELS confirmed.

Customized to meet Transocean's requirements, Siam Driller has been contracted to Chevron to work in offshore Thailand, while AOD 1 has been contracted to Saudi Aramco to work in offshore Saudi Arabia.

Siam Driller is built to the Super B Class Bigfoot design, but enhanced with larger spud cans so that it is suitable for drilling where soft soil is predominant. The rig is installed with offline stand building features in its drilling system package, which allows for simultaneous drilling and the preparation of drill pipes to take place. The Super B Class jackup is an enhanced version of the standard B Class; the former is able to drill to a depth of 35,000 feet.

AOD 1 is built to the standard B Class design. The jackup will be able to operate in water depths of 400 feet, drill to a depth of 30,000 feet and accommodate 150 people.

Meanwhile, Transocean has on order a second Super B Class jackup with Keppel FELS. The jackup, Transocean Andaman, is at present under construction and scheduled to be delivered in March this year.

Commenting on the company's performance, Keppel O&M’s Managing Director, Wong Kok Seng said in a statement: "With some 20 rigs to deliver in 2013, we are working hard to maintain our high standards of delivering on time, within budget and without incidents. Of the rigs to be delivered this year, 15 are built to our KELS B Class family of designs, four to our Super A Class design and one to our proprietary semisubmersible drilling tender design."

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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Seadrill Orders Two Jackups from Dalian Shipbuilding

Deepwater drilling specialist Seadrill announced Friday that it has ordered two jackups for delivery in the first half of 2015 from Chinese firm Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore.

The two units, which will cost $230 million per rig, will be based on the F&G JU2000E design, with water depth capacity of 400 feet and drilling depth of up to 30,000 feet. Seadrill has also arranged option agreements with Dalian to construct an additional two rigs for delivery in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, said the firm.

Seadrill Chairman John Fredriksen commented in a statement:

"These newbuilds position us for additional growth in a strengthening jackup market, providing further earnings upside for Seadrill. The premium jackup market continues to demonstrate strength as evidenced by increasing day rates and utilizations. Customers continue show preference for newer units from drilling contractors with proven track records of safe and efficient operations.

"Currently 312 jackups, or 65 percent of the total fleet of 483 jackups are older than 25 years. These two new firm orders increases our fleet of modern jackups to 25 rigs with an average age of three years, and further strengthens our position as the leading operator of premium modern, high-quality drilling units."

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Seadrill Orders Two Jackups from Dalian Shipbuilding

Deepwater drilling specialist Seadrill announced Friday that it has ordered two jackups for delivery in the first half of 2015 from Chinese firm Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore.

The two units, which will cost $230 million per rig, will be based on the F&G JU2000E design, with water depth capacity of 400 feet and drilling depth of up to 30,000 feet. Seadrill has also arranged option agreements with Dalian to construct an additional two rigs for delivery in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, said the firm.

Seadrill Chairman John Fredriksen commented in a statement:

"These newbuilds position us for additional growth in a strengthening jackup market, providing further earnings upside for Seadrill. The premium jackup market continues to demonstrate strength as evidenced by increasing day rates and utilizations. Customers continue show preference for newer units from drilling contractors with proven track records of safe and efficient operations.

"Currently 312 jackups, or 65 percent of the total fleet of 483 jackups are older than 25 years. These two new firm orders increases our fleet of modern jackups to 25 rigs with an average age of three years, and further strengthens our position as the leading operator of premium modern, high-quality drilling units."

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RigLogix can provide the information that you need about the offshore rig fleet, whether you need utilization and industry trends or detailed reports on future rig contracts. Subscribing to RigLogix will allow you to access dozens of prebuilt reports and build your own custom reports using hundreds of available data columns. For more information about a RigLogix subscription, visit http://www.riglogix.com/.

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Seadrill Orders Two Jackups from Dalian Shipbuilding

Deepwater drilling specialist Seadrill announced Friday that it has ordered two jackups for delivery in the first half of 2015 from Chinese firm Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore.

The two units, which will cost $230 million per rig, will be based on the F&G JU2000E design, with water depth capacity of 400 feet and drilling depth of up to 30,000 feet. Seadrill has also arranged option agreements with Dalian to construct an additional two rigs for delivery in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, said the firm.

Seadrill Chairman John Fredriksen commented in a statement:

"These newbuilds position us for additional growth in a strengthening jackup market, providing further earnings upside for Seadrill. The premium jackup market continues to demonstrate strength as evidenced by increasing day rates and utilizations. Customers continue show preference for newer units from drilling contractors with proven track records of safe and efficient operations.

"Currently 312 jackups, or 65 percent of the total fleet of 483 jackups are older than 25 years. These two new firm orders increases our fleet of modern jackups to 25 rigs with an average age of three years, and further strengthens our position as the leading operator of premium modern, high-quality drilling units."

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
For More Information on the Offshore Rig Fleet:
RigLogix can provide the information that you need about the offshore rig fleet, whether you need utilization and industry trends or detailed reports on future rig contracts. Subscribing to RigLogix will allow you to access dozens of prebuilt reports and build your own custom reports using hundreds of available data columns. For more information about a RigLogix subscription, visit http://www.riglogix.com/.

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